City of Angels
by the.goal.is.greatness
Summary: And in the end, it's not the years in your life that counts, it's the life in your years. [Nakatsu x OC]
1. Chapter 01 Moon (the Inconstant)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 503  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love. I also know very little about soccer. Sorry…

* * *

"Go Nakatsu! Yay!"

Nakatsu glanced up, grinning broadly, to where his group of High School friends were in the crowd. Mizuki was the loudest and the most buoyant, bouncing up and down and cheering loudly. Her two young children were emulating her every move, but at one and two years old, they weren't as loud as their mother yet. Sano was more reserved, but he was waving a little flag with a lion on it, no doubt on his wife's orders. Sekime and Rie were clapping with more reservation, but still boasting broad smiles.

"You, Nakatsu the Lion-Hearted!"

His head flipped around at the shout, just in time to head butt the soccer ball that was heading directly for him. As it bounced down, he gave it a light tap with his knee, flipped it to his ankle, then let it hit the ground, where he immediately set off down the field with it. He feinted around one of the opposing forwards, then shot off towards the goal.

As his teammates and friends cheered his name, he executed a perfect kick, the ball flying directly through the goalie's outstretched arms. Score!

"Yes!" His teammates enveloped him in back slaps and manly hugs, but his eyes were seeking out his friends.

"Nakatsu that was awesome!" Mizuki's eyes were shining brightly. His heart still skipped a beat when she did that, but it was smaller now, softer. She was so incandescently happy with Sano that he couldn't help but be happy for her, too.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! That was awesome!" Their oldest child, a little boy named Ren, grinned up at him. "I wanna be like Uncle Nakatsu when I grow up!"

At that he really did feel his heart melt all the way. He leaned down so he was eye level with the kid. "Then you gotta work really hard and practice every day!"

"Hai!"

Nakatsu ruffled his hair with a laugh, before standing up and cooing into the face of Rie and Sekime's six month old little girl. "You guys are so lucky."

"It's not all roses, you know," Mizuki said, watching as Sano wiped a snot bubble off the face of their youngest. But her eyes were proud, and Sano's face was full of love, so it was hard to believe her. "Besides," she said abruptly, turning back to him with a grin, "you'll find someone soon, I just know it!"

"Yeah, _Nakatsu the Lion Hearted_ ," Sano said, slapping him on the back.

He laughed, heart full and happy as he stood surrounded by his friends and their families. One day soon, he hoped to have what they had.


	2. Chapter 02 Mercury (the Ambitious)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 901  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

It's the off season for professional soccer, but that doesn't mean there aren't games to play. Nakatsu's team practices every Monday through Thursday and then has scrimmage matches with other local teams on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is the only day they get to themselves. It's hard work, long hours. In the off season there's no reward, since the games they're playing don't really "count" on a professional level. Though people do still come out to watch.

But it's hot in the summer, and soccer games are long. With five days of training and two game days back to back, by Saturday Nakatsu is always beat. He always leaves the field drenched in sweat and thinking of nothing but a hot shower and cool sheets. That sounds heavenly right about now, after he's almost twisted his ankle getting his foot locked together with another player as they both reached for the ball. His ankle is throbbing, sending pulses of pain all the way up his leg. It's enough to make him grit his teeth as he limps towards the locker room.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He yelps in a most undignified way at the soft, feminine voice. When he spins around towards the noise, he lands on his injured ankle and the leg collapses under him. The next noise he makes is a groan of pain as he sinks to the ground. He closes his eyes, wondering what the odds are that the person will just leave him to wallow in his misery.

When cool hands lightly rest on his calf he jerks in surprise, and opens his eyes to find a concerned hazel gaze directly in front of him. It's a young woman, very pretty, and very worried. A blush starts to creep across his face. He leans backwards into the wall in mortification, trying to put some distance between their faces. "Uhhh…"

"Here, let me look at that." With a business like air, she starts to run her fingers down his calf towards his ankle. He sucks in his breath, anticipating pain, but her hands are soft and delicate, cool against his fevered skin. She makes a few hm-ing noises to herself, before glancing up at him. "It's not broken, and it's not a full sprain. But you should rest it for the next two to three days just to be safe. I'll speak to your coach on Monday."

He blinks. "What?"

"And you're tightening the muscles in your calf here," she rubs harshly at the offending area and he yelps, "trying to compensate for the injury in your ankle. That's just going to make the pain slowly radiate outwards. I think I have a crutch in my office for you to use, but a massage will help, as well."

She was reaching for his leg again when he managed to get a word in edgewise. "Who are you?!"

She blinked, hands outstretched. "Oh, I'm Aiko Inoue. I was just dropping off my nephew at the kiddie soccer practice, but I'm actually a physical therapist." She smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you! If you don't mind too much, I'd like to loosen the muscles in your calf just a little before we go to my office and grab you a crutch." She barely gave him a chance to nod before she'd placed her hands around his leg and started to knead the muscles in a circular pattern that made him hold back a groan.

He tried to focus instead on the physical therapist that he had never seen here before. She was petite and slender, with mousy brown hair and light brown eyes. Freckles stood out in stark relief against the bridge of her nose and the arch of her cheekbones against her porcelain pallor. Though she seemed at ease in her work, her wrists were narrow and delicate. She looked fragile, but she clearly had a fierce personality.

He'd meant to take her in as a way of distracting himself from her hands on him, but that wasn't really working. If anything, it only made him more aware of the fact that she was pressing those tiny hands into the hard muscle of his calf, practically caressing him.

He yanked his foot back suddenly. "I think…" He swallowed. "I think I'm good now, thanks." He laughed nervously, as she stared at him strangely.

"You really should come get that crutch from my office, sir."

"No, no, no. I'm fine. I don't live far, I'll just Uber home." She was still staring at him, her mouth pursed in consternation. "I'm fine, really. I promise." To prove his point, he stood, and took a few hobbling steps forward. "See, I can make it to the parking lot, not big deal."

"Hm." She still seemed unconvinced, but relented. "Alright, but I expect to see you Monday to make sure you didn't exacerbate the injury, okay?"

"Deal." He stated to turn, but paused. "I'm Shuichi, by the way, Shuichi Nakatsu."

She smiled at him, wane in the half light. "It's a pleasure to meet you."


	3. Chapter 03 Venus (the Lovers)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,183  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

How Nakatsu manages to avoid Aiko the following Monday is a miracle in and of itself, but he has his reasons. Namely that girls still baffle and confuse him and he always feels unsure and hesitant around them. Especially when he was alone with them. Going to an all-boys High School (well, except for Mizuki), he hadn't really gotten the change to interact with the opposite sex all that much. He was never sure what to say or how to act. Aoki might be a physical therapist, but she was young and cute and well, that was kind of much for him.

So Monday comes and goes and he hobbles through practice until his coach tells him if he isn't going to the doctor, then he can go home. So Tuesday and Wednesday pass in much the same manner. With Nakatsu at home, icing and elevating his ankle in turns, watching old matches on his DVR, and eating pizza. When his ankle starts to ache he forces down the thought that maybe he should get a massage. Nope. Not going there.

This thought process goes on a loop for two days, so when he makes it to practice on Thursday he's only marginally relaxed, but his ankle feels back up to one hundred percent so at least there's that. His coach and teammates are glad to have him back and it sets his mind at ease to be back where he belongs. He just needs to shake away the hazy memory of freckles and –

"Hey!"

The shout startles him and he almost falls, but a small hand on the back his shirt yanks him upright and around. And suddenly he's staring down at flashing hazel eyes.

"You were supposed to come see me on Monday!"

Somehow it had never occurred to him that she would be here. "I – I – " He panics, his mind goes blank. This is just like High School all over again. He was never good talking to girls. Lion-hearted, indeed.

"Is there a problem over there?"

Nakatsu lights up. Saved by his coach! He opens his mouth to answer, but too slow.

"No, sir! Nakatsu-san forgot about his appointment after his lay-up. I just want to make sure he's completely ready to go!"

"Sounds good, Inoue-san! Let me know what the verdict is, we've got scouts coming out!"

He turning, trying to ask what that means. Scouts? For what? When are the coming out? But he's being insistently and determinedly dragged away from the field and back to the locker rooms. He stammers out an apology, a few questions, but everything he says is brushed off. Aiko is practically giving off sparks. When she drags him into a small room off to the right that he had never noticed she lets him go and spins around, glaring daggers at him.

"Sit." It's not a question, so he complies. "Remove your shoe and sock." When he would have opened his mouth to tell her he was fine, she arches a brow at him and her expression brokers no argument, so he does that, too. She doesn't say another word until she slides forward on a short chair and lifts his foot into her lap. When he inhales sharply at the motion, she glances up at him. "Does that hurt?"

"I – no." Her expectant expression makes him blush. "It doesn't hurt, I'm just not used to – " His mind gropes for what to say. "- things like this." It's lame, even he knows that.

But her expression is amused as she goes back to her examination, trailing her hands around his ankle and up his calf, poking and prodding and kneading. It's far too quiet.

"So, um, did you just start?"

Her eyes flicker up to him and her mouth quirks in a small smile. "Yes, last week. You would have been my first appointment." There isn't any animosity in her tone, but he apologies anyway, but she shrugs it away. "No worries. Your pal Kurosawa got a concussion on Monday, so I still had something to do."

"I thought you were a physical therapist?"

"I am, but I still have the basic medical training to help someone until they can be transported to a hospital." She's holding his ankle in her two hands, lightly pressing up in long strokes.

"So how long are you with us?"

She shrugs, and the motion is somehow sad. "I don't know."

He struggles for something else to say and settles on asking about where she came from and other innocuous questions to fill the silence. He learns she's from Tokyo, that her parents are both professors (her mother of biochemistry and her father of history), that she as two brothers who play professional sports (one baseball and one football) and a young sister who wants to be a designer. He learns that she's just his age and that she doesn't have any friends here yet. He learns that she has really soft hands and a delicate bedside manner. He learns she loves sports.

"Why don't you play then?"

She's writing in his chart when he asks and the question stills her. After a long moment, she shrugs. "My life just didn't work out that way I guess." He opens his mouth to ask another question but she cuts him off. "Well, you're lucky Nakatsu-san! You didn't do any irreparable damage by not coming to see me, so at least there's that."

He blinks. "Does this mean I can go?" His mind is already whirling with thoughts of what his coach said about a scout.

"Yes. But! If you're injured in any way, shape, or form again, I expect you to come see me when and where I tell you." There's no arguing with the look in her bright hazel eyes, so he just nods. She grins and it lights up her face. "Great! Go have fun then!"

When he makes it back to the field, his coach is impatiently waiting for him. "Nakatsu! There you are! Are you good to go?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "Great! Look, here's what's happening. There's a scout here for the National FIFA team. They're looking to fill a few spots on Japan's team for the Cup in two years." Nakatsu feels his heart skip a beat and he makes a strangled noise in his throat. "No, luckily, he's not actively scouting _right now_ just getting a feel for everything. But we'll have a scrimmage in a few weeks with another promising team and they'll be here to scout from that." He stares at Nakatsu sternly. "Sound good?"

Sound good? It sounds _great_! This is everything he ever wanted. He can't wait to rock this match and blow those scouts away!


	4. Chapter 04 Sun (the Wise)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 926  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

The next three weeks are a whirlwind of training and stress and practice and worrying and training and freaking out and scrimmages and training and practice. Nakatsu had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that there would be an _honest-to-God_ FIFA scout watching one of his matches in a few more weeks. That this time next year he could be practicing with Japan's National Team. That in two years he could be competing for the FIFA World Cup overseas, representing his country and his sport.

It was hard to believe.

He always wanted this, but to have it be so close that he could taste it was new and exciting. And terrifying.

Every moment he was worried that he would trip at practice and sprain and ankle. That he would slip going down the stairs at his apartment and break a leg. That he would get sick. That he would break and arm or something. Any number of insane scenarios played through his head until he was a nervous wreck of emotion.

"Vanilla latte with three shots for Nakatsu."

His head shoots up at the baristas call and he reaches out with a thank you to take his coffee.

"Three shots, huh? Impressive." When he turns to see the owner of the vaguely familiar voice, he's surprised to see Aiko standing there. She grins up at him. "Hey there, stranger, been staying safe?" She reaches behind him with a murmured thanks as she's handed her own drink. She takes a sip as she stares at him expectantly.

"Uh, yeah, been doing good." Oh man, he's so bad a small talk. "How about you?"

She shrugs. "I'm a young, fresh from school, female, it's hard to find work in the big, bad world of sports." A wry smile. "But I'm holding hold." She gestured at him with her cup, heading over to a small table, clearly intending that he follow her as she continued talking over her shoulder at him. "I heard you've got some scouts coming out soon." She sat down. "Exciting!"

He sat down with a thump. "How'd you know about that?"

"I know everything." She laughs. "I happened to talk to your coach the other day, checking on your buddy with the concussion and he mentioned it." She frowns a little. "I had been hoping he'd want a full-time physical therapist on staff, but with the hospital so close to your practice field it's not really budget-wise. So it's just freelance work right now."

"You could work for me?" He blurts out the question without thinking and blanched when she arches a surprised brow at him. "I mean…. Uh… if you want, that is?"

"Is your ankle still bothering you?"

"Hm? Oh no! It's been great!" He grins at her. "You fixed me up right as rain!"

She chuckles. "I didn't really do anything, but okay…"

"Um, anyway, it's just that… with the scouts coming soon, I've just been… stressed out about it…"

"I'm a _physical_ therapist, dear, not an actual therapist."

He blushes at the _dear_ but soldiers on. "Yeah, no, I know, but I've been worried about getting injured and ruining my chances…"

"So you want to pay me just to wait around until you maybe injure yourself?" She can't keep the amusement from her voice.

"Okay well when you put it that way it sounds really dumb."

She laughs quietly, sipping on her drink, watching him from over the edge of her cup so all he can see are her hazel eyes and freckled nose. "I done research on the effect of regular massage in relation to how to helps athletes in the long and short term."

"… what?"

"My thesis basically studied, and proved, that getting regular massages and stretching sessions with a physical therapist can boost the elasticity of muscles over a long range of time. Basically is makes you feel better now so you play better, but it also keeps everything limber in the long run so you can play for longer."

He blinks, trying to take that all in. "What?"

Aiko rolls her eyes and sets down her cup. "You can pay me for regular treatment, Nakatsu." She says it slowly, eyes boring into his in amusement.

"I –" Realization dawns. "Oh." He hadn't really anticipated that, had only been thinking about injuries. He made decent money. He could afford to pay her, at least until the scrimmage match with the scouts. But getting a massage every few days? He wasn't Nanba. Nakatsu wasn't built to have a cute girl run her hands all over his (possibly) naked body every few days. His face burned in mortification already. But Aiko was watching in a growing concern as he sat there, red-faced and stammering. So he supposed it was whether or not he wanted to listen to his pride and possibly injure himself and wash out.

Or if he wanted to give himself the best possible chance to make it to the World Cup and have to figure out a way to survive the woman across from him running her soft hands all over him every few days.

He sighed. It wasn't really that hard of a decision.

"You're hired!"


	5. Chapter 05 Mars (Warriors of Faith)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,124  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

There are a few weeks where Nakatsu doesn't know how he is going to cope with what his life as become. Aiko is true to her word, and every two to three days (depending on the length and exuberance of his practices) she gives him a deep tissue massage. At first, he's adamant that only his back needs attention. He draws the line at letting her touch travel any farther than his shoulders to his hip: no arms or legs or neck or anything else. He wouldn't be able to stand it.

One night he even calls up his old schoolmate Nanba hysterical on the phone. When he finally manages to understand what Nakatsu is trying to say, he laughs so hard there's tears in his eyes. His advice is as equally unhelpful as his original words of comfort.

"Man, just kiss her."

That decisively Doesn't Help. And in fact, does make it worse. Because now as she's massaging him, all he's thinking about it that.

She seems to sense his discomfort (and how couldn't she?) and so she starts to talk. She talks about her brother Tsume (the baseball player) and how he just proposed to his boyfriend. She talks about how her other brother Renji (who plays American football) just found out his wife is expecting their second child and how excited she is to be an aunt again. She mentions how her little sister Sakura is graduating High School in a few months and is worried she won't get into a good design college. Nakatsu relaxes in softer and softer increments as Aiko talks about what it was like growing up with two professors for parents and so many children into sports.

Slowly she draws him into the conversation, lulling him further. She gets him to talk about Osaka and his friends. About Mizuki. About his dreams for the future and how he wants to make them real. He's so relaxed that he never notices that she's started massaging his legs and arms during each session.

It's so natural, the conversations, that they start to linger in the locker room where she sets up her table. One day when there's visiting teams hogging up the field, she sets up her equipment in his living room, and there it stays. So they have tea after each session. She brews a lavender and elderberry tea that he becomes immediately addicted to. They talk as they sip tea and the later the conversations last, the more they linger. Tea becomes pizza ordered for a late night dinner. Pizza turns into renting a movie.

It's so, so easy and natural that it takes Nakatsu a long, long time to realize that he's never been at ease with a female like this. Even Mizuki – once he knew she was a girl, he was always flustered and awkward around her. These lengthy conversations with Aiko have made him so singularly at ease with her that it's shocking to him when he realizes it.

The thought, when he has it, makes him momentarily as awkward as a High School boy again. But then she's laughing so hard she's crying at something on the TV and almost chokes on a piece of pizza and he's too busy patting her on the back to be nervous. When she catches her breath and looks up at him with a thanks on her lips, he's caught dead by her face so close to his: hair tousled, eyes bright, cheeks flushed. She's beautiful.

Something must show on his face as he snaps his attention back to the television. She falls silent as they resume the movie and Nakatsu doesn't know how to salvage the ease of the precious moments back. The rest of the night passes in compatible silence, _something_ hovering in the air between them, but neither of them wishing to give it voice.

* * *

It is a week before he summons enough courage to change their routine. Instead of pizza ordered from the same place they ordered every few days (so often that the entire staff of the restaurant had their ordered memorized), he cooked instead. He wasn't a brilliant cook, by no means even close to being what any person would consider a 'chef.' But he put the effort. Salads and pasta and breadsticks, all homemade. Plated messily, but it still tasted as good as he could hope.

"Nakatsu…"

"You… you can call me Shuichi, you know." He's sheepish offering, since _technically_ she works for him, but it doesn't feel like that.

She's staring down at their dinner with her mouth open, eyes far away. "I…"

"Please?" He knows it's a ploy to use the big, puppy-dog eyes that allowed him to get away with so many things as a child, but he's not above that when he wants to have dinner with her. "I'm not… a great cook, but I thought… something different?"

She blinks up at him and he can see the moment she agrees. Her smile is tentative, but happy.

* * *

They settle into a new routine. He cooks every other meeting. So they still have their pizza and movie nights, no changes on those evenings. But one night he garners his courage again to ask, "Maybe… maybe tomorrow we could see a movie at the theater in town?" It's a date. He knows he's asking her on a date. He's never done that before. Not really. He can see that it shocks her more than him cooking dinner. "I mean, if you don't want to that's fine!" He's quick to try and soothe the situation.

"No, I… I want to…" He senses a _but_. "But… I don't…. I don't usually… date" She says the word like she's verifying that that is what it would in fact be. When he hesitantly nods, he continues. "… at all. I… well it doesn't matter why." She shrugs in a self-deprecating manner.

"We can go as friends." His eyes are earnest. "I like hanging out with you, Ino- Aiko. But I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

She's silent for a long, long moment, eyes glancing over his face as if taking in every feature. "You know… I think I'd like to go on a date with you, Shuichi."

He gives an excited cry that he can't contain. Just as he equally can't contain his leaning forward to press a kiss to her surprised lips.


	6. Chapter 06 Jupiter (the Just)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,156  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

Time creeped by so slowly that it was almost a surprise when one day his coach, in farewell after practice said, "Okay, everyone, rest up for the match tomorrow. I want everyone on their A-game for the scouts tomorrow."

It seemed like just yesterday that he'd been being told about the opportunity and now it was _here_. The opportunity he'd been waiting for, for almost his entire life. Another chance like this wouldn't come around for four more years. He could be injured beyond repair by then. There could be better, younger player by then. Any number of things could happen in four years. He might never get this chance again.

And now he was panicking.

"Shuichi, stop pacing, you're making me dizzy."

He stopped for a moment, in order to glance over at Aiko, seated primly on his couch, watching him with thinly veiled amusement. "Easy for you to say, you don't know what this is like." He tried to resume his pacing but, with an eye roll, she snagged his hand as he walked by and pulled him down beside her.

"No, you're right, I don't know what it's like, not exactly. But," he said, making sure she had his full attention, "what I _do_ remember is when Renji wanted to play real American football and knew he'd have to apply for colleges in America – how nervous he was to tour the University of Florida campus and how scared he was when he graduated for the draft. I remember what it was like for Tsume who plays a professional sport but who loves his boyfriend so much, being _terrified_ he would be asked to choose between them because those two worlds tend to not overlap." She smiled at him. "My sister and my parents and I aren't athletes, so we remember how you all freak out and panic and how it always works out in the end." She ruffled his hair. "So calm down, you're going to be amazing."

Nakatsu couldn't help but smile as he felt the knot in his chest unclench. "What did I do to deserve you?" He asked at he leaned forward to brush their lips together. When she leaned up into him, he sighed. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of this. Had it only been a few weeks since he'd become free to kiss her whenever he wanted? It was perfect.

"Hm… just lucky, I guess."

* * *

Oh, yes he was.

The next dawned as clear and perfect as any of them could hope for. Partly cloudy, dry, and cool – the perfect day for a scrimmage match with his entire future waiting for him.

No, don't think about that.

Just think about the game. Think about how all of his friends had come out to watch: Mizuki with her little lion flag, her bouncing kids, and Sano. Rie and Sekime. Even Nanba had made an appearance with his new wife Kali, both looking beautiful and incandescently happy. His parents are there, looking proud and thrilled.

And Aiko. Her sister Sakura had come out, too, and the pair of them were wearing shirts she had designed in school. They were both cheering. But Aiko looked… beautiful. Bubbly and bright and shining, her eyes following his every move. How could he not play better than he ever had before? How could he not feel his heart swell as he heard her yelling his name and cheering him on? How could he not score one, two, _three_ goals in rapid succession and every one flash her a grin and a thumbs up. All for her.

They win the game. How could they not? And while he's slapping the backs of his teammates on the field and catching his breath, he barely notices the scouts conversing, had almost forgotten they were there. Until a voice on the loudspeaker crackles over the crowd. "Nakatsu Shuichi, please see your coach for a contract opportunity for FIFA!"

The roar of his friends is nearly deafening but one voice sticks out over every other. He's running over to the sidelines, leaving his teammates behind, no one in his eyes except for Aiko. She's standing on the other side of the fence that separates the players from the fans, but he barely slows his momentum. He barrels into the fence, hoping up on the bottom rung, so he can reach over and down and grasp her by the torso, pull her up and kiss her.

* * *

It takes a long time to calm his mother down (and maybe he should have told her that he kind of had a girlfriend, but he figured his mom was stressing enough about his impending game) and when he finally does, she and Aiko hit it off immediately. Mizuki simply adores her. Nanba and Kali adopt Sakura as a surrogate little sister when they find out she wants to be a fashion designer and she basically swoons to meet two just famous models.

"I didn't know your boyfriend's friends were so famous," Sakura says to her sister, gesturing at the two models.

Nanba laughs. "I don't know, little flower, with our lion heading to the World Cup, maybe he'll be more famous than all of us!"

Through it all, Aiko is smiling at him.

It's hours later when they make it back to his apartment. He's a little drunk and swaying, only Aiko keeping his steady. But he doesn't mind, it means he can pull her close and nuzzle into her neck and hair and let his hands explore and linger. She's laughing at his antics, but not pushing him away. He wants to celebrate some more. But with her. Just the two of them.

When he opens his door and steps inside, Aiko doesn't follow him. Nakatsu turns and quirks a brow at her, holding out a hand, inviting her in. The moment is full and heavy with the feeling of _something more_. "Aiko?"

She's standing on the threshold and she looks… he doesn't know. He's slightly too tipsy to be able to tell what the look on her face is. Scared? Nervous? Sad? He doesn't know. All he knows is that he wants her to choose to stay with him.

"Stay the night with me?" He asks the question softly, not challenging, not forceful, just a question. But the plea is there, too. _Please_ stay the night. Stay with me.

It seems forever before she takes that single step through his door and takes his hand.

* * *

The night is perfect.

But when he wakes in the morning, she is gone.


	7. Chapter 07 Saturn (the Contemplative)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,001  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

Nakatsu is delirious and confused, reaching out to the empty space beside him with a frown. It's cold. His apartment is silent in the way it only is when he is there alone, still and vacant. Aiko is clearly gone. For a moment, he feel depression swirl within him, he never should have pushed her last night.

 _The bed looms behind them, steady and waiting, but Nakatsu is too busy kissing a line down Aiko's throat to notice her hesitation until she stills. "What's wrong?"_

" _I… it's just… I…"_

 _He looks up to meet her eyes while she stammers. She's rigid in his arms and her eyes are everywhere but his face, so he reaches out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, slowing her tumbling words. "Hey, you can tell me."_

 _She sighs, slumping against him. When she answers, the words are muffled against his shirt and he has to ask her to say it again. "I've never done this before."_

 _He blinks. "Never done…" Her eyes still won't meet his, but they keep flicking to the bed. "You're a…"_

 _She purses her lips. "Yes."_

" _I…" Nakatsu is very rarely speechless, but for the moment he is. He isn't promiscuous, no. But he's no saint. He's a young, unattached, professional athlete in his early twenties. He had dated a bit after school. But Aiko was young and pretty and clever and… No one would be able to take this away from him. Her only first. Him. Forever. "Aiko, I promise I'm not going to hurt you."_

He should have let her go. What if she had reasons for waiting? What if he'd ruined some big, important part of her life, because he was a sleezeball? What if –

"Crap."

* * *

Only thing to do was find her and grovel and apologize and hope she didn't hate him.

It takes him _hours_ to find her, so long that he's terrified she just up and ghosted him and moved to a new city. But this wasn't a movie, so that's not what happened. He's making a second search of the practice field when he barrels into her coming out of the locker room.

"Aiko!"

She freezes when she registers his voice and her face goes violently red. "H-hello."

"Don't hello me!" No wait, he wasn't supposed to be yelling, he was supposed to be apologizing. He drops to his knees. "I'm sorry." She blinks, but he's on a roll. "I never should have done… that." Now his own face is red. "I didn't ask your reasons and I'm sure they were good ones and I ruined them and I ruined your whole like because I really like you and I was drunk and I … I just like you so much! And please don't ghost me! I'll never do… it… again – "

"Shuichi stop, you big idiot." She smiling at him, half amused, half a little sad, but it gives him hope when she urges him to his feet and leads them both to a bench. As she settles in her seat and looks at him, she seems determined. "You're right that I had good reasons for never having…" She swallows and though he face is red, finishes her sentence, "sex before. And it is a good one."

She falls silent. "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me-"

"No, wait, let me finish." She collects her thoughts for a moment and then begins. "So both my brothers are into sports and you once asked why I didn't play, too. I – it's not because I didn't want to. I wanted to _so_ much. I wanted to play soccer, actually." She laughed a little at his incredulous expression. "But I… couldn't. I…" Here she trails off again.

"Aiko…"

"I'm dying."

The words hang between them like a bomb. She seems surprised that she has managed to say them at all. Nakatsu feels like he can't breathe.

"I have leukemia and… well, when I was young I got all sorts of treatments and they seemed to work and it went away. But… it came back and now none of the treatments work at all. The doctors say…" Her laugh is a self-deprecating sob. "They say there's no hope."

"No." He swallow, trying to speak again without the guttural, near-crying sound. "No, that can't be true."

She shrugs. "It is and there's no point in getting upset Shuichi." When she turns to him her eyes are glossy with tears that she doesn't let fall. "That's the way it is, and I'm trying to make the most of my life until then. It was already hard enough knowing I'd be leaving my family behind but… but at least I didn't have anyone like you." She rests her palm against his cheek. "I don't want you to have to say goodbye to me like that, too. That's why I never wanted… to be close to anyone… like that…"

"Aiko…" His heart is breaking. "How… how long…?"

"Honestly, best case scenario is about five to seven a little more if I'm _incredibly_ lucky. But probably around that somewhere." She turns to him and presses their lips together, and he can't help but lean into it further, as if he's trying to push his own life force into her and will her to get better. When they pull apart, his lips are salty with his tears. "I'll always thank you for last night, Shuichi, it wasn't something I'd ever thought I'd have. But I don't want to hurt you anymore, so we should stop – "

"No."

She blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"You are not leaving me that easily."

"Shuichi, I –"

"No."


	8. Chapter 08 Fixed Stars (Faith Hope Love)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 369  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

"No,"

"I wasn't really asking you – "

"Well, neither was I." Aiko is staring at him, the sheen of tears still glistening in her eyes. And Nakatsu is terrified. Terrified that something is happening to her that he cannot see, cannot stop, cannot cure. He's terrified at how swiftly she's suddenly become such an important part of his life that even this will not dissuade him from pursuing her.

"You don't understand – "

"I do, Aiko. I really do." He takes a step forward and, when she doesn't back away, he takes another and another, until he's close enough to grasp her hands in his. "I might not get the… medical… parts, but I get it. I can't understand what you're going through but I – I don't want you to go through it alone."

Even though she's tried so hard to keep them at bay, a few tears leak down her cheeks as she looks up at him, chin trembling. "Shuichi, I can't ask you to stay with me."

"You're not asking, Aiko. I _want_ to stay with you. I want to argue with you about whether or not pineapple is an acceptable pizza topping. I want to watch you cry at romantic movies and be there when you point out and pet every single dog you see. I want to watch you at your brother's wedding, and your nieces and nephews birthdays. I want to watch you live your life and be there with you while you do."

"I – "

"I don't know where this is going, I'm not a psychic, but I know, I know I don't want it to end." He heaves a deep sigh. "I think – I _know_ – I'm falling in love with you." She's openly crying now and he tugs her into his chest, trying to understand her hiccupping words. "What?"

"I don't want it to end either."


	9. Chapter 09 Primum Mobile (the Angels)

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,300  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

It was Cloud 9 for Nakatsu for the rest of his FIFA training with the hand-selected team of Japanese players who would represent their country on the field in two more years. Looking back on the time, it seemed like just yesterday that Aiko was trying to leave him and they admitted they could fall in love with each other. But that brief blip of time was filled with so many perfect moments that led him to right here.

* * *

It is one week after Aiko hesitantly admits she will try a relationship with him, even though she knows it will end in heartbreak. Nakatsu is too bright, too good, too happy. And though she wants that in her life for as long as she can manage to hold onto it she's knows it's not fair to do this to him. But she told him, he knows her secret, and he wants to try anyway. She doesn't deserve him.

She definitely doesn't deserve how sweet he is: attentive and caring, without a trace of pity or remorse coloring his expression or voice. Just honest-to-goodness happiness that they are dating. It's almost enough to make her fall completely in love with him right there.

But love is little moments that build over time, not any one moment.

It is movie nights and inside jokes and lunch dates. It is remembering each other's coffee order. It is a text saying _I miss you._ It is holding her hand through doctor's appointments and rubbing her back as she cries about how unfair life is. It is Nakatsu coming home dirty and tired from a late night practice sure that he is the worst player on the team. It is being taken care of when he has the flu, or knowing just what to do when she has a migraine. It was crawling into bed beside one another, exhausted and aching, but just wanting to feel that other person beside you as you drifted off to sleep.

And sometimes, too, it was arguments about late nights that turned into early mornings, about whose turn it was to take out the trash or pick up dinner. Love wasn't always pretty or kind or happily ever after. It was life. Day by day by day, creeping by without a notice until – suddenly – it was there.

* * *

When they move in together there is a struggle of belongings, or what will go where, of whose furniture is better, more comfortable, cuter. They rock, paper, scissors the bulk of it, laughing so hard they're crying as they go through items they've accumulated over their lives. School papers and trophies and baby clothes and toys and photo albums.

Nakatsu can't contain his glee when he finds out that Aiko still has every single stuffed animal from her childhood and still remembers all of their names.

Aiko would be mad, but then she finds out that Nakatsu used to play Dungeons and Dragons as a small child when she accidentally opens a box labeled with "Do Not Touch" written in a childish scrawl.

It's an adjustment. She's never lived with anyone but her family and he's only lived with boys or alone. And some of it is hard (arguments about the toilet seat and what temperature to keep the thermostat at). But some of it – most of it – is so, so easy it was like breathing. Cooking was a dance. Getting ready in the morning at their single sink was a battle of who got the water first, and usually ended in a water fight. And every night, sitting on the couch, curled into one another, watching movies, just like they first started.

* * *

It is a year later, a year to the day that they agreed to date, Nakatsu, looking uncomfortable and adorable in black slacks and a button down, takes her own to the nicest restaurant she's ever been to and, over wine and dessert, grasps her by the hand.

"Aiko, I – I just wanted to tell you that – this past year has been – the best year of my life and I – I love you."

She's smiling, tremulous and real. "I love you, too."

She never thought she could be this happy.

* * *

In the year before the Cup, Nakatsu's practices switch into overdrive and he's always tired and bedraggled at the end of a meet, but so happy about coming home to her and where his life is that it shocks them both when one day she collapses in the stands and has to be rushed to the hospital.

Nakatsu doesn't even know what's happening until he turns in the middle of practice at the sound of sirens.

* * *

She has to take it slow after her collapse. Luckily – this time – it wasn't a full relapse, but exhaustion turned into pneumonia. She's in the hospital for weeks and Nakatsu never leaves her side. She doesn't know how she manages to get so much time off from his coach, but he never says that there's a problem, and she's too tired to bring it up. So she focuses on getting better, on going home, on getting well so she can see Shuichi win the World Cup.

* * *

It's a long road until she's where she was before, even little illnesses have always taken so much out of her. But she is adamant that she will watch Shuichi from the sidelines of every game the Japanese team plays from the sidelines.

And she keeps her promise.

She watches them defeat team after team, country after country. South Africa vs. Japan 1:3. Japan vs. Sweden 2:0. Japan vs. Mexico 3:2. And on and on and on, game after game. She's hoarse at the end of every match, cheering as loud as she can. She doesn't care if it makes her weak. All she cares about is Shuichi. Every victory he seeks her out in the crowd to wave and grin and blow her a kiss.

And then, the final. Italy vs. Japan. The players are so matched in skill that with one minute left to go the score is still double zeros. But right before overtime… score! Shuichi feints left, then right, then – victory for Japan!

She's climbing over the fence before anyone can stop her. By the time security is after her, it's too late. Nakatsu is already running towards her, arms outstretched so she can fly into them. She's laughing and crying as he scoops her up and lifts her off her feet in a bear hug. He sets her down on her feet in a jarring motion that leaves her head spinning and there are cameras and reporters all around them, but Shuichi –

\- is kneeling in front of her, reaching into his sock to pull out a gleaming ring.

He's looking up at her expectantly. "Inoue Aiko – will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"

The camera crews and reporters are holding their collective breaths, the only noise for two heartbeats are the clicking of the cameras. Everyone is waiting for her answer…

"Yes! Oh yes!"

He's shouting as he stands to pick her up and spin her around. It's a picture that will be plastered with every sports article about the game for the next forever. But Aiko doesn't care. She doesn't care about anything except that – for however long it lasts – she gets to spend the rest of her life with this man.


	10. Chapter 10 Empyrean

**Title:** City of Angels  
 **Genre:** Romance  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Pairing:** Nakatsu x OC  
 **Spoilers:** Manga  
 **Summary:** And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years.  
 **Word Count:** 1,566  
 **Warnings:** N/A

 **Disclaimer:** Not mine. Summary is an Abraham Lincoln quote.

 **A/N:** My little lion man deserves some love.

* * *

If someone asked him fifty years later, what the best moment of his life was, he always told them the same thing: "The best day of my life was one practice when I hurt my ankle, because it brought me Aiko." Every single moment of his life after that one, only existed because of that one single, fleeing second. Their first date, their first kiss, proposing. Even Japan winning the FIFA Cup with Nakatsu scoring the winning goal couldn't compare the wonder of loving her.

* * *

Everything about preparing for the wedding made him nervous. Everyone he knew would be there. Everyone Aiko knew would be there. There would probably be reporters there since he was still a part of the famous Japanese National Soccer Team. What if he tripped? Or got ill? Or said the wrong thing?

But the moment he saw Aiko walking down the aisle, all of his fears melted away. She was incandescent. Beautiful. And all his. Her smile was tremulous and joyful as she stared at him, her eyes tearful. He didn't even care about the answering sheen of tears he felt in his own eyes, because this was what he wanted more than anything else in the world.

Everything after was a blur.

He someone managed to get through his vows without a single mistake. There were photographs with friends and family and his new wife (his wife!). There were speeches and dances and his mom was crying and Aiko's dad was crying. There was cake and bouquets and garters. There was laughter and friends and family and a sparkler farewell.

And then it was just the two of them, alone in their limo, on their way to their home. And then they were home, together, until death do them part. And then, in the peaceful and quiet of their new life together, Nakatsu took Aiko in his arms and they danced in the living room to music only they could hear, content in each other and the future they were about to build together.

* * *

It is a year later and that first year has been its own kind of joy. Trying to find their own sense of style and decorating as a couple. They have argued about whose turn it is to take out the trash and who drank the last of the milk. They have laughed about early morning bedhead and dinner catastrophes. They had cried watching movies and at doctor's appointments. They had cheered at scrimmages and at personal achievements.

They had gone on a beautiful honeymoon to Paris and basked in only each other's own company for two glorious weeks.

And now, now…

"Are you sure?" Nakatsu is looking at her with a mixture of elation and dread, eyes hopeful but hands shaking.

Aiko laughs, as bright as cheerful as a bell. "Of course I'm sure! The doctor told me yesterday!"

At her confirmation, he can't hold back a shout, scooping her up and spinning her in jubilant circles, before he sets her down with a thud that jars her teeth. "I'm sorry! Is that okay? I shouldn't have done that…"

He looks incredibly worried but she laughs again. "I'm pregnant, Shuichi, not porcelain." She smiles up at him, bright as the sun. "A baby, Shuichi! We're going to have a baby!"

* * *

The next nine months are a whirlwind. And only partially for the joy (and terror) that his impending fatherhood should bring to him. It was also chaos because the pregnancy was hard for Aiko. She constantly feared a relapse. If that happened, she wouldn't be able to undergo treatment without harming the baby. So they were exceedingly careful. As careful as they could be. And though she didn't suffer a relapse, she was weak and pale for much of the pregnancy, never looking like she was gaining the weight she should be.

It was a nerve-wracking ordeal.

But at the end of it all, as Nakatsu held his squalling, messy, _beautiful_ daughter in his arms, as Aiko cried tears of joy as she reached for their daughter, he knew it was worth it. It was worth every day that started with morning sickness and every night that ending in stress and tears. It was worth every lunch spent crunching budgets and painting the nursery and arguing about names. It was worth every disapproving glance from Aiko's doctor saying she was too weak and fragile to withstand a pregnancy and that this was a very unwise decision on their part.

But it was worth it. Worth it. Worth it. Worth it.

* * *

Life with Setsuna is a wonder. They know that they will probably not have other children, that she will probably be their only one. Aiko was weak for so long after the birth, he does not want to do that to her again. And Setsuna is enough. She a joy to behold. So bright and smart and pretty. A little doll of questions and bright eyes and insight.

She has his bright golden hair, with Aiko's hazel eyes and smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He can already tell that she will be tall and lithe, a feminine form of her father. But her face is all Aiko. All soft cheeks and tiny nose, pouting lips and rounded chin. She is the spitting image of her mouth with Nakatsu's crown.

She has him wrapped around her little finger from day one.

And Aiko dotes on her. They are with her every step of her life, nothing bringing them more happiness than their tiny little family. Her first words, her first steps. Her never-ending stream of "Why? How come? What's that? Where?" She's a bundle of curiosity that that adore to satiate.

* * *

Aiko never full recovers from Setsuna's birth though. Nakatsu can tell. She's never quite as loud, never quite as bouncing, never quite as boisterous. She's careful in her motions, in taking her vitamins, in going to her doctor's appointments. She wants to celebrate all of their daughter's brithdays.

The first: all pale pink and lace, with a cherub cheeked Setsuna.

The second: at a petting zoo, where their daughter rides a pony and laughs and laughs and laughs. But Aiko cannot stop coughing.

The third: Setsuna runs around at breakneck speed while her parents chase her and laugh.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth.

The seventh: at the hospital, because Aiko is too weak to be moved after weeks of chemeotherapy.

That year is almost too much for all of them. Aiko shaves her head and loses so much weight she is skeletal. But when Setsuna comes to the hospital and climbs into the bed to show Aiko her drawings and report cards and to show her how well she can read, Aiko _glows_ with happiness. Her eyes are alight with it.

Her eighth birthday passes in the same way. In the hospital, where Aiko tries to help Setsuna blow out her candles but she is too weak. Nakatsu tries to stay strong, for his daughter, but it is hard, so hard, to be helpless and powerless to help his beautiful young wife. A wife who should have a dozen children to love and cherish. Who should have decades left of her life. Who should not be stuck in this hospital, wasting away.

* * *

And then the day comes, the day he knew would come, that he had dreaded and tried to ignore. A call from the hospital and the world falls out from under his feet. Setsuna, wise beyond her nine years, understands. She cries with him. She holds his hand at the funeral and says goodbye to her mother so solemnly and beautiful that everyone who sees it weeps.

It is almost impossible to go on after that; if it weren't for Setsuna he didn't know if he could have. Every place is a memory, every second something reminds him of Aiko. Setsuna is her perfect miniature. And it is through her that Nakatsu learns to live a life of joy, as Setsuna becomes fond of saying, "because we have to live for mommy, too, now!"

So he's there when she joins her school's soccer team and wins their first junior championship a twelve. Here's there at thirteen when she starts having sleepovers and her house is a mess and raucous of girls. At fifteen when he teaches her to drive and boys start asking her out. At sixteen for her first prom and her license. At eighteen for her high school graduation, where she introduces him to her boyfriend. He cries when she goes to London for college.

When she gets married to that boy at twenty-five, he cries as he gives her away, and at the empty chair beside him with a portrait of her mother seated on it, and as they dance together, and at hear speech where she cries as she t talks of how her mother is there in spirit.

And when her first daughter is born, two years later, she names her Aiko.


End file.
